Pro-Sadrist source reveals the number of the movement's MPs

Shafaq News / A source in the Sadrist movement revealed the number of the Sadrist Bloc's representatives.

The list submitted by Hassan al-Athari included 76 Sadrist MPs, without the representatives that decided to join them later.

The Framework submitted a list of lawmakers' names it claimed now hold the biggest parliamentary bloc with 88 seats, rather than al-Sadr.

Chaos erupted briefly in the chamber, during which legislators crowded around al-Mashhadani, who was leading the session.

Within minutes, the 73-year-old legislator was carried out of the room by security forces and bundled in an ambulance that took him to hospital, where he was visited by some of the heads of political and militia factions. He appeared to be in good condition, according to people who later saw him there.

Following the disruption, the parliament session resumed, although the issue of the majority was not immediately resolved.

Yesterday, the new Parliament Presidium has officially assumed its duties.

The new Presidium consists of Mohammad al-Halboosi as speaker of Parliament, Hakim al-Zamili as the first deputy, and Shakhwan Abdullah as the second deputy.

"We need to make serious changes and restore confidence in the political process", Al-Halboosi said in a speech today.

"This would be the first step of a long way of reform", he added.

The Independent MP Basem Khashan on Monday said that he will lodge a complaint at the Federal Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of the parliament's first session held yesterday, Sunday.

Khashan told Shafaq News Agency that the complaint file will include videotapes, documents, and evidence that cast doubts on the validity of the Parliament Presidium's election.

"The attack on the Parliament's elder member, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, has stripped the session of its legitimacy. Any decision taken afterward is invalid. However, this is the Federal Court's call."

"The complaint I intend to file is individual. It does not have anything to do with the other parties' complaints."

Earlier today, the Federal Supreme Court debunked the Coordination Framework claims about its legal opinion regarding the constitutionality of Sunday's parliamentary session.

The media center of the Court said in a statement that neither the head of the Court nor any of its members have commented on the validity of the January 9 parliamentary session.

The Court urged "all the parties to pursue accuracy and avoid attributing an opinion or statement to the Supreme Federal Court because it might subject them to legal liability."

Media close to the Coordination Framework quoted officials in the Shiite forces consortium saying that the head of the Federal Supreme Court said that the Parliament's first session was" unconstitutional".